8 Using pictures

Many documents benefit from the addition of pictures. You may want to add a logo to a report, or place a graph or chart in a report. Charts which you have created within Fireworkz are treated as pictures, so all the information about repositioning and resizing pictures applies to charts as well.

Adding pictures to Fireworkz is a simple process. This chapter describes the ways you can use pictures within Fireworkz documents:

Picture file formats

Pictures in a variety of formats can be added to your documents. Fireworkz can also create pictures in the form of charts. These can be saved as RISC OS Draw files.

Fireworkz supports the following picture formats:

Fireworkz on RISC OS supports the automatic import of many other picture formats using ChangeFSI (if it is available).

Pictures in these formats can be added to a document or transferred between RISC OS and Windows computers as files embedded in or referenced by a Fireworkz document.

Windows uses the file extensions .AFF for RISC OS Draw files and .FF9 for RISC OS sprites. Adding these extensions to file names will make it easier for the Windows computer to recognise files as suitable graphics and allow them to be inserted into your document. You should make sure that your sprites and Draw files do not have any other extension added to their name as they will then not be correctly read by Fireworkz.

You can use the (now free) OakDraw package to create and edit RISC OS Draw files on Windows.

Using pictures in your document

Fireworkz lets you add pictures to your documents, move them around the page, resize them, and also to pin them to the text so that they always stay with their associated text even if the document is reformatted. You can also add pictures as the background to a page.

How Fireworkz handles pictures

Fireworkz stores pictures on two invisible layers of your document, the front layer and the back layer. This gives you additional flexibility in using pictures, and means that when you are working with pictures you need not worry about moving your text around.

Pictures can be either in front of or behind the text layer.

You can use the commands on the Pictures menu to swap the layers over to get the effect you want.

Adding pictures to your document

To add a picture file to a document:

  1. Select the picture file (which may be a JPEG, Draw file or Sprite file) from the directory in which it is stored using the Filer (RISC OS) or File Explorer (Windows).
  2. Drag the picture's file icon into the window of the document.
  3. Release the mouse button. The picture will be added to the document.

Using the Insert File command

In Windows you can also add files to documents by using the Insert File command.

  1. Place the caret at the point in the document where you want the picture adding.
  2. Choose Insert File from the File menu.
  3. Choose the document you want from the dialogue box which appears.
  4. The picture will be added to the document.

Storing pictures in documents

There are two ways in which pictures can be stored in the document:

The default setting is that all pictures are embedded. However, you can change this in the Choices dialogue box by switching the Embed pictures option off.

If you reference a picture, you can still embed it in your document by selecting it and then choosing Embed from the Pictures menu.

To turn an embedded picture into a referenced picture:

  1. Select the picture
  2. Choose Save as from the Save menu and save the picture outside the document.
  3. Delete the picture from the document.
  4. Switch off the Embed pictures option in the Choices dialogue box.
  5. Drop the saved picture's file icon back on the document. It will be referenced in the document.

If, when you try to open a document containing a referenced picture, Fireworkz cannot find the picture, you will see an error message.

Positioning pictures on the page

Once you have added your picture to the document you may want to move it to a new place, fix it in the place it is in, or make it bigger or smaller. These actions can all be done on screen with the mouse so you can always see what is happening.

To move a picture around the page:

  1. Click the left mouse button within the picture so that its selection box is displayed.
  2. Move the pointer to inside the picture's selection box. The pointer will change into a hand.
  3. Click and hold the left mouse button down and drag to where you want to move the picture.
  4. When you release the left mouse button the picture will appear in its new location.

Fixing the position of pictures on the page

Pictures can be pinned to the cell/text layer of the document, so that they move if rows and columns are inserted or deleted. You can tell that the picture is pinned because the top left selection handle appears solid red, and the others are in outline.

You may want to pin the bottom of the picture as well, for example if you are adding a border to an area of document and think you may want to insert some more rows in the middle of the section.

To pin pictures:

  1. Click the left mouse button within the picture so that its selection box is displayed.
  2. Double-click in the bottom right selection handle.
  3. The selection handle will appear solid to show that the picture has been pinned to the cell.

If the cell to which the bottom of the picture has been pinned moves, the picture will resize to take account of it.

Unpinning pictures

You may want to unpin pictures so that they stay in the same position on the page, rather than floating with the paragraph or cell to which they have been pinned.

To unpin pictures, double-click the top left selection handle so that it is an outline rather than a solid square. If the bottom right selection handle is solid (and therefore pinned) you should double-click that as well.

Resizing pictures

You may find that pictures do not appear in your document at exactly the required size. To change the size:

  1. Click the left mouse button within the picture so that its selection box is displayed.
  2. Point at the bottom right-hand selection handle.
  3. The pointer will change into a four way arrow.
  4. Drag the picture to the new size using the left mouse button. This will resize the picture while preserving its aspect ratio, i.e. it will not be distorted by this process.
  5. If you do not want to preserve the aspect ratio of the picture, drag and resize using Adjust (RISC OS) or Ctrl-left mouse button (Windows).

Stretching or shrinking the picture

You may stretch or shrink the picture along one axis by:

  1. Display the selection box by clicking in the picture.
  2. Point at the selection handle in the middle of the top or bottom to change the vertical dimension or the left or right to change the horizontal.
  3. The pointer will change into a two way arrow.
  4. Drag away from the picture to stretch it or into the picture to shrink it.
  5. When you release the mouse button the picture will appear in its new size and shape.

Showing and hiding pictures

If your document contains a lot of pictures scrolling through it can become slow.

You may prefer to turn the display of pictures off, in the Choices dialogue box accessed via the icon bar menu (RISC OS) or the File menu (Windows).

If you then want to see the pictures, change the option in the Choices dialogue box.

Backdrop pictures

A backdrop is a picture which appears behind the text and does not move when the text changes. You would usually use backdrops to help you create stationery.

You will probably use one of two strategies with backdrops:

Creating backdrops

To create a backdrop within a document:

  1. Drag the picture file into your Fireworkz document window, and click to select it.
  2. Choose Backdrop from the Pictures menu. The Backdrop dialogue box will be displayed.
  3. Choose one of the first two options in the dialogue box.
  4. You should then choose an option to tell Fireworkz where to position the backdrop on the page.
  5. The final options in the Backdrop dialogue box are:
  6. Click OK. The backdrop will be displayed as requested.

Repositioning backdrops

To reposition a backdrop:

  1. Choose Swap front/back from the Pictures sub-menu on the Extra menu.
  2. Drag the picture to the new position.
  3. Choose Swap front/back again.